Unlike any other widely spoken language, Chinese is tonal, meaning that tones accompanying words alter the meaning. English is not a tonal language, but does use intonation. The difference is that while intonation, the way the sound of the voice rises and falls as you speak, can impact the meaning or intention of a sentence, saying a given word differently does not change its meaning. Mandarin Chinese (as opposed to the dialects, which may have different numbers of tones) has four tones, plus a neutral tone. They are fairly clear, that is they are different enough to be able to hear and say the difference.
Tones are important in Chinese in part because of the limited number of syllables. Chinese has about 400 syllables - different pronunciations - and since characters are all just one syllable, that severely limits the possible ways of saying a word. Tones increase the number considerably.
The following short and simple video gives a clear, excellent demonstration.
Are tones important in Chinese? They are more than important; they are essential to understanding and to being understood. Look at the following examples, listen to them, then watch the videos. Note that in the first two examples, the characters are identical. The change in the tone of the second, however, alters the meaning.
世故 shìgù causes; reasons 世故 shìgu sophisticated
买卖 mǎimài business transaction 买卖 mǎimai small business
贸易 màoyì trade 毛衣 máoyī sweater
看书 kànshū read 砍树 kǎnshù chop down a tree
Before watching these two videos, listen again to the last example above, the difference between reading a bok and chopping down a tree.
What's going on here? The dialogue is pretty straightforward, and is the same in each (though reversed): A: What is s/he doing? B: S/he is xxxxxx. A: S/he is yyyyyy? B: No, s/he is xxxxxx!
Unlike any other widely spoken language, Chinese is tonal, meaning that tones accompanying words alter the meaning. English is not a tonal language, but does use intonation. The difference is that while intonation, the way the sound of the voice rises and falls as you speak, can impact the meaning or intention of a sentence, saying a given word differently does not change its meaning. Mandarin Chinese (as opposed to the dialects, which may have different numbers of tones) has four tones, plus a neutral tone. They are fairly clear, that is they are different enough to be able to hear and say the difference.
Tones are important in Chinese in part because of the limited number of syllables. Chinese has about 400 syllables - different pronunciations - and since characters are all just one syllable, that severely limits the possible ways of saying a word. Tones increase the number considerably.
The following short and simple video gives a clear, excellent demonstration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orx53ieqEI4&feature=player_embedded
Are tones important in Chinese? They are more than important; they are essential to understanding and to being understood. Look at the following examples, listen to them, then watch the videos. Note that in the first two examples, the characters are identical. The change in the tone of the second, however, alters the meaning.
世故 shìgù causes; reasons 世故 shìgu sophisticated
买卖 mǎimài business transaction 买卖 mǎimai small business
贸易 màoyì trade 毛衣 máoyī sweater
看书 kànshū read 砍树 kǎnshù chop down a tree
Before watching these two videos, listen again to the last example above, the difference between reading a bok and chopping down a tree.
What's going on here? The dialogue is pretty straightforward, and is the same in each (though reversed):
A: What is s/he doing?
B: S/he is xxxxxx.
A: S/he is yyyyyy?
B: No, s/he is xxxxxx!
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